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Review: Stage West records smash hit with Jersey Boys

The finale in Stage West's Jersey Boys. John Watson Photography

Dan St.Yves

Published: December 1, 2018 - 9:35 AM

If you’ve been to see productions such as Million Dollar Quartet, The Producers or Dreamgirls at Stage West Calgary, you may want to pencil in their latest Broadway offering, the smash hit Jersey Boys. It’s the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, a frank view into the pop vocal group’s turbulent rise from their Jersey roots, recording million-selling singles along the way.

In the category of “I did not know that,” the play offers many illuminations to longtime fans, and plenty of high voltage musical performances to recruit new devotees. I certainly wasn’t aware of the connection between actor and movie screen wise guy Joe Pesci to the band, nor the scenarios that led to Valli breaking into his solo career. Not to spoil any surprises, there’s a lot of ground covered, and fair warning — there’s plenty of salty language to ensure the audience is aware of those rough-and-tumble Jersey roots.

In a nutshell, you get front row seats to the formation of the band, their zigzag path to stardom, and both the highs and lows of that journey for each member. There’s a great line that Valli deadpans as a narrator later in the show — “bad times pass, but so do good times.” That was surely the constant case for these gentlemen.

The unique perspective in this biography is that each member had a different view as to how the story unfolded, so the creators (Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice) ran with that, allowing each Four Seasons member to tell their version, even allowing for them to alternate as narrators in addition to playing their main role.

A scene in Stage West’s Jersey Boys. John Watson Photography

The result is informative, yet it allows the story to move forward quickly, and ultimately showcase the music that sold in the multimillions. You’re sure to recognize many songs, even if those might be from movie soundtracks, cover versions or TV commercials. The Four Seasons sound permeated far and wide, selling an estimated 100 million albums back when albums actually sold.

As for the Stage West production, authenticity buoys the entire proceedings. The stage and costumes recreate the era to a tee. The house band, led by musical director Konrad Pluta, is as flawless as ever in bringing the vitality of that iconic music to life. Choreographer Phil Nero channels the ’60s perfectly, with the dancing and overall cast movement bringing the Beach Blanket Bingo movies of that time on to the stage.

The strength in this production is director Liz Gilroy’s casting and ability to keep things on pace — allowing for emotional connections along the story’s pathway. The cast alternates between humorous moments and a few sorrow-filled events, all connecting with the audience as required. Having seen Frankie Valli perform live back in 2009 as a reference, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the solid performance from Evan Taylor Benyacar in his Stage West debut — his timbre and range is certainly capable of the higher notes, but he also conveys that trademark raggedy sound that Valli can often veer into.

The cast is fairly enormous, so I apologize in advance for the sin of omission here as every character does play a part in the storytelling. I will however, give kudos to Matt Alfano (Gyp De Carlo), Niko Anastasakis (Joe Pesci), Daniel Greenberg (Nick DeVito, Norm Waxman), Jonathan Gysbers (Bob Gaudio), Douglas Walker (Bob Crewe), Josh Wiles (Tommy DeVito) and Tristan Hernandez (Nick Massi) who are at the heart of the story as either Four Seasons members or key players.

As a Broadway musical, Jersey Boys has been a big success since it debuted, spawning tours, residencies in cities like Las Vegas and even a film. As a biography, the show puts forward an unvarnished view of the band as they struggled and found success. Then struggled some more. In the end, the music remains, and given the VIP treatment by all involved here, that music will continue to connect with fans new and old.